Galway reconfiguration plan for fourth quarter
While the HSE West’s spiraling deficit is its immediate priority, a medium-term reconfiguration plan for Galway and Roscommon will be presented before year-end, writes Gary Culliton Major changes are underway as the HSE West struggles to control a mounting deficit. Talks are at an advanced stage with the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (IMNO), … [Read More...]
Efficacy and Favourable Safety Profile of Firazyr (icatibant) for the Treatment of Hereditary Angioedema attacks
Results from two Phase III studies of Firazyr published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrate the efficacy and favourable safety profile of icatibant for the treatment of Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) attacks. The FAST-1 and FAST-2 studies The FAST-1 and FAST-2 studies were double-blind randomised multicenter trials designed … [Read More...]
Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing & Young People Conference
September 15 : Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Dublin To book a place, email: adminalcoholaction ireland.ie. or Tel: +353 (0)1 8780610. Web: www.alcoholireland.ie … [Read More...]
What it says in the papers…
Debate on drug treatment "More than 11,000 drug addicts are now being given the heroin substitute methadone as the HSE prepares to roll out new services to supply the replacement drug around the country. It’s costing nearly €20 million a year to provide the substitute to heroine addicts." With heroine use on the increase, the Sunday Independent … [Read More...]
News
DDoc next to face cuts
By Aoife Connors aoife.connors@imt.ie DDoc may be the next GP co-op to face swingeing cuts in its annual grant funding, as the HSE is expected to move both it and NEDOC to Special Type Consultation (STC) payments next year, Irish Medical Times has … [Read More...]
Surgical beds to be ‘ring fenced’
By Gary Culliton gary.culliton@imt.ie The HSE is to introduce arrangements whereby surgical beds will be “ring fenced”, the Executive’s Director of Quality and Clinical Care has pledged. Dr Barry White explained that the objective was to … [Read More...]
HIQA moves on new key indicators
By Dara Gantly dara.gantly@imt.ie The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is publishing this Friday new guidance on developing key performance indicators (KPIs) and minimum data sets to monitor the quality of healthcare. KPIs are measurable … [Read More...]
Clinical programmes to roll out in 2011
With the official launch of 20 national clinical programmes last week, Gary Culliton reports on the HSE’s belief that the move can both improve health outcomes and cut costs The HSE’s Quality and Clinical Care Directorate has been established … [Read More...]
Heart disease number one killer in women
By Aoife Connors aoife.connors@imt.ie Heart disease is the number one killer of Irish women, according to the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF), whose message for September is, ‘This is not a red dress; it’s a red alert!’ The IHF launched the … [Read More...]
Pharmacists want OTC morning-after pill
By Mary Anne Kenny maryanne.kenny@imt.ie The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has joined voluntary activist organisation Choice Ireland in calling for pharmacists to be enabled to provide emergency contraception to patients without a doctor’s prescription. … [Read More...]
Antibiotic use drops further
By Gary Culliton gary.culliton@imt.ie Data for 2009 shows a further drop in consumption of antibiotics, Minister for Health Mary Harney has revealed. In a written reply to a Parliamentary Question from Fine Gael’s Deputy Phil Hogan, the Minister … [Read More...]
Temple St Board begins texting
By Aoife Connors aoife.connors@imt.ie The medical board at the Children’s University Hospital Temple Street has begun texting as the latest means of disseminating important notices to its members. At a medical board meeting on May 20, the use … [Read More...]
Clinical Times
Hair colour a risk factor for recurring basal cell carcinoma
Patients who receive a diagnosis of the skin cancer basal cell carcinoma at a younger age – along with those who have red hair, a higher socioeconomic status and a cancerous lesion on their upper extremities – appear to be at higher risk of developing … [Read More...]
Variation in survival rates for lung transplantation centres
There is significant variation among lung transplant centres in the five-year survival rate of patients, with a higher number of procedures performed at a centre only partly associated with longer survival of patients, according to a new American study. Doctors … [Read More...]
Mental issues not always Alzheimer’s
Doctors in France have warned colleagues not to assume that elderly persons who exhibit signs of Alzheimer’s disease actually have the disease and to investigate alternative causes. The advice follows a case in which a patient thought to have Alzheimer’s … [Read More...]
Cognitive behavioural therapy beneficial for treatment of ADHD
Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who received medication and individual sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) showed greater improvement in symptoms through 12 months compared to patients who did not receive such therapy, … [Read More...]
Opinion
Shoot from the hip
The recent hip-replacement recall shows just one element of the value of establishing national registries, says Dara Gantly It is one thing to recall … [Read More...]
When mitre is righter than the mob
Dr Ruairi Hanley is pleased Pope Benedict has not bowed to mob justice and accepted the resignation of Bishop Raymond Field A few months ago, I wrote … [Read More...]
Letting the Kat out of the bag
The GAA has solved the encroachment problem at Croke Park — present the Liam McCarthy Cup to the Kilkenny captain before next Sunday’s game, reveals … [Read More...]
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